Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1983 - 15

SOUND
This is the first in a series of columns that
will appear from time to time in TD& T
Each one will take a little bite out of the
general subject of sound system design,
equipmem, and operation for the performing arts. Through these articles I hope to
share useful facts and in ights acquired over
some thirty-fiw year of operating and designing systems.
The first topic is published material-the
ba ic print sources that should be a\'ailable
to any student or profe sional working with
performance sound systems. This Ii t doe
not include every sound-related publication,
but one I have found to be especially useful.

BOOKS
There are surprisingly few book in the
pro-sound field. (Pro-sound = professional
sound, as oppo ed to home tereo systems.)
Two of the newest and most comprehensi\'e
are The Recording SllIdio Handbook by
John 1'-1. Worman (Sagamore, 19 6) and
Sound Recording by John Eargle (Van
oSlrad Reinhold, 1980). Both authors ha\'e
had long and varied careers in pro-sound;
both write well and have given us very useful
basic books.
Although each book is nominally addressing the recording studio process, in fact,
every chapter is equally useful to someone
working in li\'e theatre, music reinforcemem,
broadcasting, or recording. Each wriler
presents a useful and under tandable overview of the ba ic of phy ical sound and psychoacoustics as well a a thorough de cription of the operation of e\'ery major piece of
electronic equipment likely to be encountered
in a recording studio.
Both books presem the sometimes confusing subjects of logarithms and decibels in
an understandable manner. Volume le\'el
meter (VU, VI, peak, etc.), dBm, dB\·. and
dB\' hould be clear concept after reading
either book. Eargle pre ents a more detailed
and broader CO\'erage of psychoacoustics:
phantom images, time-delay, and the
precedence effect, and the contribution of
room acou tics. He also presents an excellent
explanat ion of stereo ound-both 2 and -l
channels.
These books give a clear pict ure of the
how-it-works and the what-it-does of major
hardware items: microphones, loudspeakers
(mo tly for the control room), the control
con ole, tape recorders, and signal processors (equalizer, time-delay, nangers.
compre ers. limiters. noise gates, and noise
reduction). Worman i a little more oriemed
toward the operation of the recording process. He has excellent chapters on 1'-licrophone Techniques, The Recording Session,
and The 1'-lixdown Session.

by Rollins Brook

Microphones-Hal\' They Work and
Hal\' To Use Them by Martin Clifford (Tab
Books, 1977) describes the struclUre and operation of microphones, explains how to understand and use the manufaclUrer's specification sheet, and provides many useful do's
and don't's of microphone usage. He has included an especially useful explanation of
how various musical instruments create their
sound and how to place a microphone to best
ad vantage.
John Eargle ha JUSt published The
Microphone Handbook (Elar, 1982). He
al 0 explains how each type of microphone
operates, including much useful information
on various stereo miking techniques and the
problems inherent in multi-mic setups. The
book suggests the type of microphone to use
and where to put it for each of the major musical instrument groups-keyboards, plucked
and bowed trings, woodwinds, bras, percussion, and vocals. There is al 0 a good introduction to the problems of large-space
speech and music reinforcement, both outdoors and in large room.
The most comprehensive book available
on the technical aspects of large-space speech
and music reinforcement is Sound Reinforcement (Audio Engineering Society, 1978).
This book, edited by David Klepper, is a
compilation of landmark papers published in
the Journal of the A udio Engineering Society
from its founding in 1953 up to 1978. The
articles are divided into general section:
A. General Sound System Design and
Evaluation
B. Control of Feedback and
Equalization
C. Delay
D. Loudspeaker Cluster Design
E. Indoor Systems
F. Outdoor Systems
G. Circuit Considerations
While this \'olume is somewhat technical, it
should prO\'e u eful to the seriou slUdent of
the design of systems for large paces. The
Audio Engineering Society has publi hed
other technical anthologie : Loudspeakers,
Microphones, and Disk Recording (Vols. 1
and 2). These books deal mostly with de ign
and manufacturing.
A basic reference work that should be in
every sound library is A udio Cyclopedia by
Howard 1'-1. Tremaine (Sams, 2nd ed, 1969).
This 1700-page giam CO\'ers the whole of the
sound system art and science in a wellindexed question1111swer format.
I know of only twO book publi hed on
the subject of sound techniques in the
theatre: Sound In The Theatre by Harold
Burris-i\leyer and Vincent i\lallory (Davenport, 1959) and David Collison's Stage
Sound (Drama Books, 1976). Sound in the

Theatre i ,of course, the grandfather of electronic sound in the theatre. The equipment
described is quite dated, but the principles of
system design and applications in the theatre
are still germane. Collison presents more
current equipment descriptions, but even his
multi-channel comrol console has been vastly
improved in the past six years. His discussions of microphone and loudspeaker locations and assignments on the control console
are good.

MAGAZINES
While books are the place for learning
general principles and the basic standards of
pro-sound, the up-to-date in formation on
equipmem and current thinking in system
design and operation is reported in the
periodic press. Among the major trade and
professional magazine in the field (in addition to TD&
are:

Journal of The A udio Engineering Society (available only with member hip and to
libraries) is the principal technical professional journal. It provides technical documentation of the development of the audio
industry. Membership in the AES is recommended for those imerested in the internal
functioning of sound equipment. Other professional journals having some interest to the
sound field include: Journal of the

Acoustical Society of America, Proceedings
of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic
Engineers, and Bell Lab Reports.
The profession-level trade magazines are
generally oriellled toward recording or
broadcasting. As with the books by Worman
and Eargle, the articles and advertisement in
these publications have general application in
other areas of the performing arts. db-The
Sound Engineering Maga::.ine, which is commonly known as just db, usually has the
broadest appeal. It has several regular column (called "departments") that address
areas outside of recording and broadcasting.
"Sound with Images" deals with the ad\'anced technology of multi-media, well beyond what used to be called audiovisual.
"Digital Audio" is a long-running tutorial
on the rapidly arriving world of digital equipmem. John Eargle has recemly started a
series on the technology of "Sound Reinforcement." FealUre articles in db cover the
whole field of sound in the performing arts
-although the majority do deal \\-ith recording and broadcast slUdio activitie .
The largest (often near 200 pages) of the
technical trade magazines is Recording Engineer/Producer. The front cover carries the
sub-billing: "Producing Audio for - TapeRecords - Film - Live Performance - Vidco

continued on page 39

SITT /Spring/ 1983/Theatre Design & Technology

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1983